Improvement in rolls for rolling piles of railroad-iron



, UNITED STATESl PATENT 4FFICE.

JoIIN'rI-IoMAsoF INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA, AssIeNoR To I-IIMsELr AND JoI-IN M. LORD.

IMPROVEMENT IN ROLLS FOR ROLLING PILES OF RAILROAD-IRON.

Specification forming part Aof Letters Patent N o. 35,2811, dated May 13, i862.

,To allwwm/ it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JOHN THOMAS, of Indianapolis, in the county of Marion and State of Indiana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in the Construction andA Arrangement of Rolls for Rerolling Railroad-Bars and other Old Iron; and I do hercby declare that the following is a full and eX- act description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings and the letters marked thereon.

Figure l shows the end of a pile of six rails arranged for rerolliug. J vis a tie-bar extending the length of the rails B, A, C, E, D, and

F. The tie-bar J is designed to secure the s tability'of the pile and aid in the control of the :iux used in the process of welding.

Fig;2 shows the endof the rails as they are passed between the rolls G and H and welded into a single bar.

Fig. 3 shows an end section of the rolls G and H, with a side viewof the pile, showing its condition. before and after passing through the rolls.

The object'sought in the construction of the rolls G and H is to completely confine and control the flux used in the process of weld- I ing and to concentrate thel force upon the The roll H presses the iianges of the rails E and F and binds them to the sides of the rails. As the bar or pile advances, before it reaches the center of the rolls in its passage across them, K and L and M and N are brought together, and the flanges of the roll G press the anges of the rails B and C, completely welding them to the auges of the rails E and F, so that when the full force of the rolls is brought 'to bear upon the pile the flux employed in welding or uniting the seams between the rails is prevented from escaping and forced along the seams, thereby insuring a perfect weld or union of the iron. This is most essential and important when different qualities of iron are to be united, as is the case when railroad-bars are rolled. It is a fact well known to iron-workers that hard crystallized iron cannot be perfectly united with soft fibrous iron unless effected by an ample supply of flux for communication of thesurfaces as they are pressed together. In rolling rails by the old plan of rolling into flats -and thenpiling and rerolling into rails the dry surfaces of iron of different crystal, ber, or structure and possessing little affinity appear to solder or weld, but when tested by use it proves to separate; hence the splintered and laminated rails upon the most of our roads where the rails have been subjected to any considerable amount of wear.

The advantages of this construction and operation of rolls are seen in the arrangement of the iianges in connection with any suitable form of rolls, substantially as described, so as to weld the sides of the pile, effectually closing all escape of the linx before the full force of the rolls comes upon the body of the pile, thereby securing a perfect weld of the iron and securing a superior strength to the rail, as follows: The discharge of the flux and cin- -der from the sides of the pile as constructed and operated by the old process cuts the liber of the iron and arranges it transversely, as

may be easily seen, by bending such rail so as to stretch the flange, thereby checking the `same and increasing their liability to'break.

This is avoided by my invention and discovery. This is no theory which may not be established by the experience ofthousands who have witnessed the operation and the wear of the rails from bars so produced,and though the process seems simple in its operation it effects much and is the result of years of thought and experiment, and is the seeming perfection of a process for which Letters Pateut of the United States were granted to me bearing date the 22d day of November, A. D. 1859, and by virtue of Van assignment issued to John Thomas and John M. Lord.

The advantages of this process complete are seen, first, in the saving of labor, reducing the old process of rolling into flats so that one-third more work is accomplished in the same time than isproduced by the old plan 5 secondly, the superiority of the iron,Which is the result of the superior Weld and perfect soldering,` of the iron when so produced and operated.

I am aware that rolls have been used for re rolling piles of railroad-rails which to a certain extent, though iinperfectly, accomplished the purpose for which my improved rolls are intended-viz., to bend the Hang-es so as to close the external joints before the body of the pile receives the direct pressure of the rolls, and to solne extent preventing the escape of the Hux; and I ain also aware that rolls with lianges overlapping each other are in common use for rolling railroad-iron. My 

